1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packaging for solid pourable product, and more particularly to a specialty box for conveniently dispensing confectioneries or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Boxes with end flaps which open for dispensing confectioneries are well known in the art. They are inexpensive and easy to manufacture on a mass scale since they are typically made of a single sheet of paperboard stock which is folded together in a certain sequence to form the box. Most mass-produced boxes, and in particular small candy and mint boxes, are formed, filled and sealed using high speed cartoners, folding 50 to 2000 packages per minute or more. Such high speed packaging machinery typically accepts large quantities of blanks that are each formed into a folding carton in a series of folds, and then open each box, fill it with product, and close the flaps applying an appropriate time-sensitive adhesive to seal the flaps.
Applicant is the inventor of numerous specialty folding box packaging designs having a slider openers for easy dispensing of pourable products and closing of the box for subsequent use, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,116,499, 6,273,332, 6,360,942, 6,435,402, 6,945,449, 7,040,528, 7,156,286, 7,337,904, 7,743,973 and 9,085,386. Applicant was also the owner of U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,373, now expired, licensed for the popular CERTS® mints box. Applicant continues to develop packages of new and differing functionality which offer improvements over the prior art including in ease of operation and manufacturing. Among the improvements are those addressing marketability with potential food manufacturers.
Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 7,743,973 entitled “Thumb-Actuated Candy or Mint Box” formed with a horizontal slide opener provides most convenient and easy utilization of a box, by enabling the consumer to hold this box with one hand and by use of a thumb for example, easily opens to dispense the contents and also close the box as easily. When a user holds the box upright in one hand and opens the box, the user's thumb slides away from the box and the opening is revealed. One drawback of the '973 box is that the blank used to form the box includes an elongated flap that is folded over the slide which may require customized machinery for filling and closing the box. Also, the cost of the blank (material) is more expensive due to a larger blank needed for such a configuration.
Prior art such as the '973 box may require machinery modifications, specialized manufacturing equipment, and extra folding steps to accommodate the elongated flap covering the slide and other unusually shaped structures. And Applicant's '973 design, although innovative, can be refused for high volume production by food companies because of increased material cost. For these reasons, there is a need for a thumb-actuated, sideways sliding box that can be manufactured using existing high speed packaging techniques and conventional folding of short flaps to close the box once it is filled.
3. Objects of the Invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved package having a blank with dimensions and flap sizes corresponding to standard sizes commonly used in a high-speed commercial form and to fill packaging machineries, making it suitable for mass production that all major food producers are already equipped with, and this makes it a convenient transition of using this innovative design that can increase the sale of a product, as consumers have shown they lean towards new designs with convenience of easy utilization.
Another object of the present invention to provide a package comprising a conventional seal-end box that offers a convenient slide opening not tied to the top or bottom of the box.
It is a further object of the present invention to offer a slide opening that moves in a sideways direction perpendicular to the top opening of the box for convenient pourability and ease of use.
It is a further object to provide a package with an opening that is actuated by the user's thumb at the same time not tending to block the opening.
It is a further object to provide a package that conveniently can be utilized single-handedly by the user, to meet today's lifestyle demands of multitasking, i.e. leaving the other hand available for some other task.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved package that can be easily dispensed while the user is engaged in other activities, even while driving, without overly distracting or interfering with the user's operation of the moving vehicle.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved package that can be sized to fit well into a user's pocket, while still adaptable for larger sizes such as cereal boxes.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a box that is inexpensive, economically produced, and easy to manufacture on a mass scale, for example being made from a smaller single sheet of blank stock material and constructed in such a way to avoid any difficult insertion step for high speed packaging machinery.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are more fully discussed in the following summary, description and drawings.